Darkness Reborn
by Jade Pilot
Summary: Dark AU just in time for Halloween! Luke struggles against the darkness that would claim him once again.


_This kill is mine…_

Luke startled awake as his eyes strained to adjust to the darkness. A dream—it was the dream again. He breathed in the dank air around him and began to cough. His chest exploded in pain as he tried to fight against the involuntary spasms. He placed his left hand against his rib cage, feeling the top two bones give under the pressure of his fingers. He coughed again, realizing that he had acquired two new broken bones as a result of yesterday's interrogation. Not for the first time did he futilely try to draw on the Force for help.

Pushing up from the thin mattress, Luke moved to a sitting position and dropped back against the cold wall of his imposed home for the last three years. _Three years!_ Had it actually been three years since…his bearded chin fell to his chest against the agonizing pain that refused to dissipate. Never had he felt such hopeless anguish…not even when his beloved wife had been taken from him so cruelly. Perhaps it was best she had not lived to see—

The rusted sound of metal brought him back to the present as the door leading to his confinement opened. Luke grimaced, trying to prepare himself for the onslaught that was to come. Alone and without the Force he was not equipped to fight the Monster that has plagued him these long, lonely years.

"Good morning, Master Skywalker."

Luke gritted his teeth against the rush of emotion that washed over him, knowing that he would eventually have to meet the eyes of his enemy.

"What? No greeting for me today? No entreaty or supplication to turn from the dark side? Have you truly and whole heartedly accepted what I've become then?"

"No."

"No? That's your entire rebuttal—_no_?"

Luke closed his eyes against the sound of the Monster's taunting voice. He coughed again, the metal taste of his own blood on his lips. Then he felt it—the tiny awakening sense that was life itself to him. He gasped as the sweet presence of the Force began to surge within him.

"Do you feel it?"

Luke paused, not wanting to give his captor any satisfaction. But as the veil began to lift he breathed deeply, savoring the sweet sensation. "Yes," Luke whispered. He could feel the presence of his captor drawing nearer, his moist breath against his cheek.

"Does it cry from deep within you to be released?"

"Please…" Luke could feel the cold needle against his throat. "Please, don't."

"It doesn't have to be this way. I can put the syringe back into its case. It's so easy—so easy. You know what you have to do…"

Luke cringed at the malevolence that surrounded him, swallowed against the small metallic needle that would deny him the Force yet again. He felt the tears slip down his cheeks unfettered.

"You've fought for so long and endured so much. No one could have held on for as long as you have."

"I can't," Luke whispered, his shoulders shaking. "You know I can't."

"Oh, but you can, dear one." The Monster's lips were centimeters from his ear, the needle almost piercing his skin. "The dark hungers for your acquiescence. The pain will be but a memory. Isn't that want you want? To be whole again?"

Luke felt a hand brush against his hair, cradling his head. So tired. He could feel the dark power of the Monster encase him. How could he hold against such malevolence…such strength?

"Come, embrace the dark side—you have done so in the past and can easily do so now."

"I was wrong…as you are now."

The Monster laughed. "Stubborn to the end. I've always admired that about you. But enough. It's been three long years and it is the time to embrace your destiny. The dark side of the Force is near at hand, waiting for you to join me. Together, we will rule the galaxy as father and son."

Luke opened his eyes and looked up into the face of his only child. A face he barely recognized anymore. Gone were the clear blue eyes that were once, so like his own, and the shimmering red-gold hair of his mother. In their place was the visage of a madman who had removed any resemblance of his maternal parent and whose sickly yellow eyes bore down into him like some demon from beyond. Not even the face of the most transformed Yuuzhan Vong could compare with the hideousness that stood over him.

"Make a decision Father…your time is drawing nigh."

Luke blanched as he heard the staccato march of the interrogators coming down the hallway—knew he might not survive the physical torment of his son's avatars yet again. He reached out with his senses drawing on the Force, hoping he might have just enough time to steel himself against what was to come and then gasped as the needle penetrated his skin and began to empty the ysalamiri blood-mixture into his system.

"No…" Luke said hoarsely as the Force faded from him, leaving him drained and weak.

The Monster yanked the syringe from Luke's throat and stood back. "We were close this time, weren't we Father? It is, after all, only a matter of time." He turned and opened the door, a malicious smile pulling at his lips and allowed the torturers to enter. "Perhaps tomorrow…"

Luke stared at the departing figure of the man that was once his son and feared that he would someday, perhaps soon, be correct.

end


End file.
